A recent study revealed that a third of working women in Canada have experienced harassment in the workplace. Since 1998, 17,700,000 women worldwide have reported a sexual assault. The #MeToo movement, which was founded by Tarana Burke in 2006 and went viral in 2017, encouraged millions of women to speak out about sexual violence and harassment. It brought important conversations into the media, helping destigmatize survivors by highlighting the impact sexual violence has on women. The TIME’S UP movement is a unified call for change for women everywhere. It addresses systematic inequality and injustice in the workplace.

In societies with higher rates of gender equality there are lower levels of corruption and higher levels of economic competitiveness. When everyone is given the same opportunities to access economic and social resources, society prospers. Attaining gender equality could increase the national GDP by $12 trillion in just a decade. To achieve gender equality, empowering women is crucial in building our economies, reducing poverty and attaining peace. By empowering women, we can make the world a better place for everyone.